Nick cautiously led Aoife and Agent Chennai inside Stonehaven and looked around as he went, checking each room to make sure it was clear. As he advanced on Jeremy's office his named was called out, and not by Jeremy.

"Nick Sorrentino! Please spare us the clandestine and just walk in." Rumlar said. Nick stepped in the room followed closely by Aoife and Agent Chennai. They saw that Rumlar sat in a chair in the middle of the room with his legs crossed while Jeremy and Logan were restrained by a net in chairs in front of Jeremy's dark, expansive desk facing Rumlar. The net covered them from head to toe, wrapped tightly around their bodies.

"Don't be so tentative Nick Sorrentino! It is your house after all." Rumlar added. Nick went straight to both Jeremy and Logan.

"Are you okay?" Nick asked, but all they could do was struggle against their restraints in response.

"Nadu! It's been awhile!" Rumlar greeted. Agent Chennai stepped forward, but Rumlar quickly clenched his hand and the netted restraints tightened around both Jeremy and Logan, cutting through their face and clothes, causing blood to drip on the floor.

"A Cutlass Net?" Chennai surmised.

"One of my favorites!" Rumlar replied then looked at Aoife.

"Let them go!" Nick roared.

"Do not test me you freak of nature." Rumlar replied. Nick reared back and was about to respond when Agent Chennai held up her hand at Nick to warn him off. Rumlar then looked at Aoife. "I had heard Marcus and Ehlnor bungled the one job I gave them."

"To kill me? Yes." Aoife said. "But why Rumlar?"

"Simple. Loose ends." Rumlar answered.

"You do realize she's the mother of the Princess Royal." Agent Chennai replied.

"A conspiratorial traitor to the Realm, you mean. And so much so, she wasn't even allowed to enter Presidium proper. Had to be shuttled off to the Deep." Rumlar replied.

"How do you know that?" Agent Chennai asked.

"You think that little purge of the Agency rooted out all of my eyes and ears?" Rumlar countered.

"What are you doing here, Rumlar?" Agent Chennai asked.

"To pick up a package I thought was safely absconded. That is, until you and Aoife shook things up, and then I thought the package was lost entirely when we could no longer reach Ehlnor. That is, again, until you showed back up here, and then it was just a matter of lying in wait. I will say, I'm surprised to see the Princess Royal's Human pet isn't here. I was actually looking forward to another meeting with her." Rumlar replied.

"Human pet?" Nick asked.

"He means my daughter's friend, Kenzi." Aoife answered.

"It's atrocious how the Agency is letting anything in these days." Rumlar said with disdain.

"She withstood the trials of the course and earned her place." Agent Chennai replied.

"No matter." Rumlar said as he stood up and straightened his jacket. "I really would love to continue this chat, but I have a schedule to keep, so why don't we cut to the chase, shall we? Where's the relic?"

"What makes you think we know?" Agent Chennai asked.

"Must we do this dance?" Rumlar sighed then clenched his fist again and the net around both Jeremy and Logan tightened, cutting deeper into their clothes and skin, dripping more blood. "Surely, you realize I have no compunction in killing these two freaks of nature."

"Let them go." Nadu pressed.

"Nadu! You show weakness in your regard for these creatures." Rumlar replied.

"Do not mistake my request for a lack of fortitude." Nadu said. Rumlar's eyes narrowed.

"I would expect no less than the Agent to The Queen." Rumlar said as he stepped off to the side. Agent Chennai reached behind herself, plucked something off her utility belt and handed it to Aoife who stood behind her. It was a small tool with vial attached to it.

"Use this to help Nick get those restraints off." Nadu said to Aoife without taking her eyes off Rumlar.

"Um. And then what?" Aoife asked.

"Call for back-up." Nadu replied.

"Nadu! I can help you." Aoife insisted.

"Not only are restraints cutting into their skins, but they're poisoning them as well." Nadu said.

"Nadu!" Aoife pleaded.

"You don't have much time!" Nadu shouted as Rumlar opened a transvortex and jumped through and Nadu jumped in after him in hot pursuit.

Nick and Aoife rushed over to Jeremy and Logan and worked quickly to cut off the restraints with the tool Nadu gave them. Jeremy and Logan had fallen groggy by this time. Aoife took out the attached vial and lifted it to Jeremy's lips, cradled his head with her left hand and had him take a sip. Then she moved over to Logan and did the same with him. Jeremy started to recover quickly as he looked over to Logan who was still groggy.

"Logan!" Jeremy yelled as he got up went and stood in front of Logan, took his head in both of his hands and looked deeply into his eyes. "Logan!"

"I'm here!" Logan replied as he gently guided Jeremy's hands from his face. "I'm okay, now."

"What was that?" Jeremy asked as he motioned where the transvortex first appeared.

"A transvortex. It's the way they travel." Aoife replied.

"What an asshole!" Logan said as he stood up with some support help from both Nick and Jeremy.

"You have no idea." Aoife replied.

Then they all heard howling and quickly went to the windows and saw more than 100 Mutts had swarmed the grounds around Stonehaven.

"Dammit! We're surrounded." Jeremy said.

"You don't have any back-up?" Aoife asked.

"Not readily." Jeremy replied.

"What kind of Alpha are you?" Aoife asked incredulous.

"The one who doesn't go around starting fights!" Jeremy replied then turned and faced Aoife. "But I do finish them!" Jeremey then looked to Logan. "Put out the call to our friendlies. Tell them we need back up and fast!" Logan quickly left the room to grab his phone and make the calls. Jeremy turned back to Aoife. "Do you have any more back up other than that one Agent?"

"They're back at Cours Bar." Aoife replied.

"That won't be enough." Nick said.

"Trust me, you get them here it will be plenty." Aoife replied. Jeremy picked up his phone from his desk and dialed a number. After a few moments, "Clayton! It's me. We need you back here as soon as you can. And bring everyone. Stonehaven is under attack. We're surrounded by Mutts. Looks like a hundred or so." And then he hung up the phone. "I could only leave a message. Hopefully, Clayton got it."

The transvortex opened again and Rumlar and Nadu emerged gripped in battle. It caused everyone to nearly dive out of the way. Rumlar and Nadu wrestled, tossed, punched and kicked at one another until Rumlar engaged another transvortex and they fell through it.

"What the…?" Nick started.

"JEREMY!" Someone called out from outside. Jeremy, Aoife, and Nick went back to the windows and saw a man standing in the middle of the circling Mutts. "OH JEREMY!" The man called out again.

"Who's that?" Aoife asked.

"That's Wate. He's the leader of the Mutts in this area. I've been in conversations with the Interracial Council on how best to deal with Wate and his growing insurgency. His activities are becoming more and more brazen of late, and we need to deal with it before what we are is exposed to the world." Jeremy replied. That caused Aoife to giggle which made Jeremy and Nick look at her.

"Sorry!" Aoife said as she choked in her giggles. "You really don't have any idea of what's coming, do you?"

"When this is all said and done, Dyson owes me a conversation which I'm sure will enlighten me." Jeremy replied.

"If we survive this, both these Mutts and this Interracial Council will be the least of your concerns." Aoife said.

"What does that mean?" Nick pressed.

Another transvortex opened up, tossing both Nadu and Rumlar out on their backsides. Again, their sudden emergence caused everyone to jump out of the way. Rumlar quickly pounced on top of her as they punched and wrestled one another before another transvortex opened again and they rolled through it.

"Are they going to do that all day?" Nick asked.

"Let's get some weapons together." Jeremy said then turned and led them all downstairs into the Weapons Room. "Grab what you can and then we're going to take the Escape Tunnel. Get to the other side of the property until help arrives." But when Jeremy opened the door to the Escape Tunnel it was barricaded by a cave-in.

"What the hell?" Nick let out.

"JEREMY! OH JEREMY! Come out! Come out, wherever you are!" Wate called out again.

"How did this cave-in happen?" Jeremy asked.

"More like when it happened is the real question." Aoife countered. Logan bounded down the stairs with his phone in his hand.

"Were you able to get a hold of our allies?" Jeremy asked Logan.

"I sent out a mass call. They're on their way as fast as they can get here." Logan replied.

"Well, we've got to hold on until the calvary arrives." Jeremy replied. Suddenly, they heard crashing glass.

"JEREMY! OH JEREMY! Come out! Come out, wherever you are!" Wate called out.

"Shut and barricade the door!" Jeremy ordered. Both Nick and Logan ran up the stairs and bolted the door shut and then came back down the stairs. In course, they could hear howling and paws running above them.

"How are we going to get out of here?" Aoife yelled.

"You don't have a vortex thingy?" Nick asked.

"No!" Aoife replied.

"Well, then! What kind of royalty are you?" Nick poked.

"Hey! I'm the only one allowed to be the smart ass in the room." Aoife replied.

They listened as the Mutts ransacked the house until one tried the handle of the basement door and found it locked. There was silence for moment and then the door handle was tried again. Then they heard something hit the side of the door.

"Found you!" Wate said through the door. "I can smell you now. And I also smell a lovely perfume scent. Fresh meat, eh?" None of them said anything except to raise their weapons.

Suddenly, they heard several crashes and a combination of feet and paws thumping hard above them. Clearly, a fight was taking place above their heads, but had they remained silent and vigilant. This went on for a while and then an abrupt, dead silence. They looked at one another confused, but then received an answer when they heard someone tugging at the basement door.

"Jeremy!" It was Clayton. "Jeremy! Are you down there?" Logan ran up the stairs and opened the door. He saw Clayton and Elena standing there with Dyson behind them.

"You made it!" Logan greeted with a quick hug.

"Yeah, but we had to fight our way in. Thanks to Dyson." Clayton replied.

"A little Presidium tech goes along way." Dyson added.

"We don't have much time though." Elena said as she motioned everyone up the stairs.

"What does it look like out there?" Jeremy asked after he emerged from the basement.

"The place is still swarming with Mutts." Elena replied.

"Yeah, more Mutts than I have ever seen before in my life." Clayton added. Jeremy scanned the group.

"Where's everybody else?" Jeremy asked.

"Heading for Deapers Mountain." Dyson replied. Then Erik came running up.

"There's been a development." Erik announced.

"What is it?" Dyson asked.

"A bunch of Mutts just peeled off." Erik replied.

"In what direction?" Dyson asked.

"Looks like they're headed towards Deapers Mountain." Erik replied. Jeremy ran back to his office and looked outside the windows. The group followed suit.

"Why aren't they attacking?" Jeremy asked.

"That's the Presidium technology. We have a barrier up." Erik replied. Their concentration on the world outside was broken when they heard a loud commotion behind them. They turned and saw a transvortex had opened up and Rumlar emerged. Aoife happened to be right in front of him and he quickly grabbed her.

"One down. One to go." Rumlar said as he smiled and then pulled her into the transvortex as it closed behind them.

"Aoife!" Dyson shouted as he went up to the place where the vortex disappeared on him. "Dammit!"

The rest of the group returned their attention to the Mutts outside and saw their heads perked up as if watching for something. They followed their gaze and saw a massive werewolf pack running across the field and watched it collide with the Mutts in fierce battle.

"There's the calvary!" Nick yelled.

"Yes, but is it enough?" Jeremy cautioned.

"What are we going to do next?" Nick asked.

"We need to draw the battle away from here and to Deapers Mountain. That is where we need to make our stand." Jeremy said as he proceeded to take off his clothes. "Nick, Logan and I will drive the battle there. Clayton, Elena and Dyson, you need to be our eyes and ears up high."

"Understood." Clayton replied.

Then they saw something that made the entire battle slow for several moments. A pack of Lycans came running straight into the milieu.

"Are those?" Logan stuttered in awe.

"And that's our calvary." Dyson replied as he ripped off his shirt "Erik! Stay here and call for more back up! And find out where that transvortex may have led to!"

"Got it!" Erik replied. Dyson then shifted into his wolf. Everyone else followed suit as they shifted and ran out the door and joined the battle.

Clayton, Elena and Dyson took to high ground overlooking the battle then Elena reared up on her hind legs and howled. That caused Jeremy to look up in the milieu and then howl for the rest of the pack to follow him. Clayton, Elena and Dyson raced above them along the ridgeline with Jeremy, Logan and Nick ran ahead with their allies, the Lycans, and the Mutts in hot pursuit, drawing the battle to Deapers Mountain.